When you think about world cinema and more specifically Asian cinema, Japan was the first country to really burst onto the scene internationally. A major part of this was down to Akira Kurosawa and his adoration in Europe, but a number of other directors such as Yasujiro Ozu also helped cement the reputation of the nation as one of the great filmmaking countries on earth. More contemporary names such as Takeshi Kitano and Takashi Miike as well as the phenomenal popularity of anime have both continued and evolved this heritage.

This week the blog will be focused on the cinema of Japan and will take a look at some of the great names and films, as well as some more obscure entries into the cinematic canon. Helping me out will be a couple of awesome guest bloggers who have written great articles (fire me an email to drinkingbeerwatchingmovie@gmail.com if you want to be involved in future weeks such as this one).

Of course with this kind of week I like to have a prize to give away and this week is no different. I asked the kind folk at Madman Entertainment for a copy of one of the films I was going to review to give away as a prize. Instead of sending one, they sent three. So this week you have the chance to win a prize pack of three Madman films. I will reveal what they are as I review the films in question.

Entry is open to readers worldwide and in order to enter, all you need to do is the following:

• Like the post on Facebook for one entry
• Comment on the post on Facebook for two entries
• Share the post on Facebook for two entries
• Retweet the post on Twitter for two entries
• Like the post on this site for one entry
• Comment on the post on this site for two entries

If you want to earn yourself some more entries, check out old reviews of mine for Akira (1988) which was actually the first film to ever receive a Longneck of Melbourne Bitter rating on the site, Princess Mononoke (1997), Dead Sushi (2012) and Dersu Uzala (1974). Any likes or comments on those posts over this time will score you some additional entries.

Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here and follow me on twitter @beer_movie.